I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.  (1 John 5:13)

Can any know that they are saved?  Surely faith and knowledge are mutually incompatible?  For those who believe may still doubt, whereas certainty excludes all doubt.

In the head quotation, the word translated ‘know’ is the Greek verb οἶδα, eido, which is ‘to see’ or ‘perceive’; the sense here is similar to the colloquial English expressions, ‘oh, I see now’ or the affirmation, ‘I know’.  Thus, the meaning is ‘to comprehend’ or ‘appreciate’, but it does not convey the sense of foreknowledge or certitude. Rather, the verb conveys a sense of recognition, as here:

And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know (or recognise) that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully… (Matthew 22:16)

In his first letter, John writes many things; about sin, God’s love and obedience and all this referenced in this verse.  If you confess sin, love as God loves you and obey the commandments, then those who have faith in Jesus as the Christ can recognise their salvation and live out their lives in anticipation of it.  It is a misreading to think that John is offering more than reassurance here.

Why is this distinction critical?  Because faith, by including doubt, keeps us humble, whereas, certainty invites both pride and rebellion.  Consider Habakkuk who challenges God as to why evil appears to go unpunished. God answers and commands the prophet to record his reply: 

‘Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
    it will surely come; it will not delay.
Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but the righteous shall live by his faith… (Habakkuk 2:2-4)

God will hold all accountable but in accordance with his inexorable timescale, while contrasting the proud against the righteous – the faithful.  A relationship based in belief is the only form God will abide; he will not tolerate the wilful.

This passage is reference three times in the New Testament: Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38 and here in Romans:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ (Romans 1:16-17) 

Paul restates the central teaching of Jesus that salvation can only be the product of faith and that faith is challenging, deliberately so.  Note this interchange between Jesus and his disciples:

 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know (eido) the way?” 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know (ginosko) him and have seen him.”  (John 14:5-7)

Jesus replies to Thomas using a new verb, γινώσκω, ginosko which is not one of recognition but of a personal relationship – for example the difference between acquaintance and close friendship or kinship.  But this is not enough for the disciples, this time Philip verbalises his requirement, one of proof:

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know (ginosko) me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.  (ibid 14:8-11)

Jesus makes it clear to his disciples that the only relationship with the Father is that of faith, and that through Jesus – and the only evidence is Jesus’ work.  

The verb ginosko conveys the personal experience of a relationship. (the verb describes intimacy, as when Mary questions Gabriel ‘how can this be as I do not know a man?’ Luke 1:34).  But such a relationship with our Creator, cannot mean we can know God’s mind (Isaiah 55:8-9).  Nor can we presume to obligate the Almighty – Jesus is clear on this:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness….’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

We must not dismiss this as evil people masquerading as Christians; these are people living in self-delusion of their salvation.  Their cry ‘Lord, Lord’ is plaintive and one of horror and complete surprise.  These are people who are convinced of their holiness and therefore of their salvation.

Faith remains the only basis on which God will relate to humankind, because faith keeps us humble and grateful – and this is because it requires us to remember that saving faith is God’s gift.  He is not put under any obligation by our work, as the above teaching starkly shows.  Paul is at pains to stress this to the young believers in Ephesus:

God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  (Ephesians 2:4-10)

God is completely entitled to doom everyone to hell as apart from Christ we are dead in our sin.  Mercy is the expression of his grace, but notice that it is faith that is given as gift, not salvation.  Moreover, works are not counted without the foundation of faith.  And elsewhere we read:

And without faith it is impossible to please (God), for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Belief and faith are synonymous, so God’s rewards are dependent of faith.  

Faith and doubt are the antidote to presumption and pride, and we must be clear that doubt is not unbelief or apostasy.  The writer of Hebrews, who defends the Gospel against apostasy defines faith, thus:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (ibid 11:1-3)

Faith brings assurance of salvation but never the knowledge, as in certainty. We cannot prove God exists or that He created the universe.  Jesus walks amongst us unseen.  We cannot point him out to someone, ‘for we walk by faith, not by sight’ (2 Corinthians 5:7).

The Book of Hebrews reminds us that since Eden, God has required faith and rewarded it, for example rewarding Abel, Enoch, Noah and here Abraham:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.  (ibid 11:8-10)

For Paul this is foundational:

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’ (Romans 4:1-3)

We know we might be saved only in the sense that we recognise God’s attributes, in that he is disposed to deal with us justly and by extending his mercy.  But this requires trust, which is enacted faith.  The two-fold transaction whereby righteousness is imputed from Jesus and our sin imputed to him as on the basis of one thing alone, faith in Jesus as Lord and God.  Knowing you are saved is not possible, and such presumption risks the opposite status, that of damnation, pertains.